Moat Definition
Other Word Forms of Moat
Noun
Origin of Moat
-
From Middle English mote, from Old French mote ("mound, embankment"; compare also Old French motte (“hillock, lump, clod, turf"), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill, a hill on which a castle is built, castle, embankment, turf")), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Old Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf"), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mut- (“dark, dirty"). Cognate with Alemannic German Mott, Mutte (“peat, turf"), Bavarian Mott (“peat, turf"), Dutch dialectal mot (“dust, fine sand"), Eastern Frisian mut (“grit, litter, humus"), Swedish muta (“to drizzle"), Old English mot (“speck, particle"). More at mote, mud, smut.
From Wiktionary
Middle English mote mound, moat (since both mounds and moats form part of fortifications) from Old French mound Medieval Latin mota perhaps of Germanic origin and akin to English mud
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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